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THE ETHICS 



OF 



SCHOOL LIFE 



,l-i 




JUNIATA STAFFORD 




voW 



w 



/C. 



CHICAGO. 

Charles H. Kerr & Company 
1 891 






Copyright 189; 
By Charles H. Kerk 



". PREFACE. 

^ Teachers :— It would be almost impossible to write 

^ a series of lessons in The School Life that exactly 

. suited all teachers or fitted all kinds of schools. Many 

V teachers would prefer less of detail, perhaps, than 

"^. these lessons contain ; but I thought it well for me to 

C! keep constantly in mind while writing the child, the 

public schools of our cities and towns, and the country 

schools whose teachers cannot have the benefit of 

Teachers' Meetings or frequent Institutes. 

Therefore, will each one please choose from each 
lesson that which meets your own needs, and adapt 
it to them? Do not try to give it all, for all of each 
lesson does not belong to any one class, teacher or 
school. 

I would suggest that you prepare yourselves at home 
beforehand, by carefully choosing and adapting to 
your class, writing your outline on a slip of paper 
with whatever of your practical illustration you care 
or need to add; and then, leave the lesson book at home. 
This will give _ro//r work definite form and value with- 
out the temptation to add something less relevant. 
The book should never be in the hands of any but 
teachers or the most advanced pupils. Also, please 
make a great effort to have your pupils commit to 
memory the "texts " at the head of the lessons, and 
the helpful quotations occasionally inserted. They will 
be of value all through life, if thoroughly learned in 
these impressionable years. 

Hoping these lessons will prove to be of practical 
help to you all, believe me, 

Cordially yours, 

Juniata Stafford. 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOI, I,IFE. 

I. 
SCHOOL. 



■ I went to school to-day ! " 

— Where did you go? 

How did you go ? 
And what did you see by the way? 

' I came from school to-day ! " 
— How did you coiue ? 
The same did you come, 
As you were when you went away? 



Choose and adapt. 

(i) A Place. — When you go to school, must you 
go to a ^QhQoX-house ? What is a school-house like r 
A country school-house ? A city school-house ? Can 
you go to school in a room in any kind of a building ? 
Out of doors ? What is a school-ship ? A plain, bare 
school-house without many things to work with, and 
a fine one with every supply — what difference should 
it make in your work ? Take advantage, or make 
advantages? Does successful work lie in the sur- 
rou7idings or in you f Great men and log school- 
houses. Great men sAx^fine colleges. 

(2) -The Pupils. — Can a "school" be quiet, or 
good, or troublesome? Can a "school" do well ? Can 
a ' ' school ' ' be dismissed, or go out to walk, or go on 
a picnic ? The school-house cannot do this — what 
else then, besides a />/«r^ is a school ? How many does 
it take to make a school ? 

(3) Schooling. — The dictionary says "Schooling: 



THE ETHICS OF vSCHOOIv L,IFE. ^ 

Instruction, education." Are there any other lessons 
to be learned than those in doo/is / What is to be 
educated beside 5^our mind? Your heart? Your 
hand ? Your tongue ? Who shall do it ? Schooling 
means training — who shall be the ' ' trainer f ' ' 

(4) The World a School. — Can you get education 

anywhere else besides in school ? Ivc'ssons in Nature 

— where ? Lessons in business — where ? Lessons in 

work and trades of all kinds — where? Lessons in 

goodness, generosity, justice — where ? 

" The World . . . 
Best itA<?o/ of best experience." — Milton. 

(5) For the Older Classes. — A School, (i) The 
disciples or followers of a teacher. (2) Those who 
acceot the same teaching — a sect or denomination in 
philosophy, theology, science, art, etc. (3) The sys- 
tem of doctrine as delivered by particular teachers : 
as, the Socratic school of philosophy, the Dutch school 
of painting, the various schools of medicine. 

When do our school-days really end — with youth ? 
With time ? Can we be pupil and teacher, too ? Is 
what we get in * school" ours "to keep" or what 
shall we do with it ? 

"She had lacked much of opportunity, but she had 
also vxdA^good use of a little." 

" To whom much is given, of him is much required." 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOI. I.IF'E;. 

II. 
SCHOOL AND HOME. 



A piece of home, and a piece of school. 

And a piece of out door pleasure. 
Are enough to make us say, at night, 

"The day has brought golden treasure. 



Choose and adapt. 

(i) We Belong to Both. — School is to help us to 
be good and intelligent members of a family — does it 
belong to our home life ? 

Home is to help us to do our duty otitside as well as 
within it—does home belong to school? Can the 
teacher say of you, " That child has had good train- 
ing at home : I can tell it at once ?" Can your mother 
say, "How ;nuch school is doing for my child ?" 

(2) School Brought Home. — How much shall we 
bring? lyessons to learn ? Papers with good marks? 
Papers with poor marks or mistakes ? If the latter, 
what for ? Complaints of teachers ? Tell of some 
kind word of hers, or just take it as a matter of course 
and say Jiothing of it ? What shall we bring home 
about O'ur schoolmates? Shall we bring them home, 
and how and when ? 

(3) Home Time and V7ork. — Shall school work be 
our only work ? Shall it excuse us from home duties ? 
Should we often allow ourselves to say, " Oh, I can't 
do that now, I want to study !" Studying hard shortens 
the time needed on a lesson — can we thus win time 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOIy t,lFE. 9 

to "help mother?" Do we hinder her when we 
leave books and papers about? Does order in all 
matters save time or take time ? Have you tried both 
ways ? 

(4) Home Hours. — Students need sleep — what time 
do you go to bed ? Is your necessary studying done 
early \\\\.\\& evening, or do you then " dawdle, " and 
afterwards sit up late ? What time do you g^t up — 
time enough to get breakfast easily, do a little study- 
ing or house work, and go off to school in good order 
and good time ? Or do you stay in bed to the last 
mijnite, snatch a little breakfast, "grab" your hat 
and books, and reach school barely in time, nervous 
and cross ? 

The pleasure of home, school and yourself, depend 
on how you manage your hours- -is good manage- 
ment worth -uhile ? 

(5) An Equivalent. — Who gives you opportunities 
for an education ? It is a great privilege. Can you 
give any return ? What brings greatest pleasure to 
your parents in your school work ? Will you be able 
to make them feel fully repaid If you do your best} 
Who rejoices over a good record ? Your parents, 
your teacher, yourself Earn it, then, and pay your 
debts. 

(6) For Older Classes. — High School s^ Does 
"being in the High School " make you a more im- 
portant personage ? Do your home obligations grow 
less or greater as you advance in school life ? Do you 
feel " superior " to the younger members of the family, 
or more able to give them help and encouragement ? 



lO THE ETHICS OE SCHOOIv LIFE. 

If out of school, should home life exclude all study ? 
Are you "through ? " 

Education. Are you interested in the educational 
matters of your town, state, and country ? Are they 
nothing to you after you leave school? There is 
noble work to be done in the educational cause — will 
you help ? Think out some of the ways. 



III. 
THE TEACHER. 



My teacher is a guide ; 
I need one, for the world is wide. 

And paths divide ; 
How can I know which path to choose. 
If guides and chart I dare refuse ? 

My teacher is a friend ; 
From school's beginning to life's end. 

Her aid she'll lend : 
She gives ine what I use. now. here. 
And helps to make the future clear. 



Choose and adapt. 

(I) The Head of the School.— Who is the " heau.'^ 
of the school — you, or the teacher ? Will you let her 
be the head? If she guides will you be guided? 
Will you follow her plans or your own ? Test them 
or thwart them ? 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOIv I/IFE. II 

(2) What the Teacher Stands For. — First, knowl- 
edge : she knows what you wish to know. — She got this 
knowledge by long, hard work ; she gives it to you by 
hard and careful work ; 3^ou can get it only in the 
same way. Second, Jbr thepi'esent time : it has taken 
all the ages to get to 7iow in school work, all the 
thinking, working, experimenting, hoping You are 
getting the best that came out of all this — who gives it 
to 3^ou? 

Third, Jbr the future time : what she gives you 
now, you will use in the future. You and she, together^ 
shape the future— yrt*;;/ her, through you, to others. 
Keep the chain strong and bright. 

(3) Teaching and Discipline. — Two things go to 
make up a good school-teaching and discipline, or 
order : who does the first ? Who should do the second ? 
For whose sake should order be kept, yours or the 
teacher's? The better the school, the better for 
whom ? 

Disorder hurts whom — the teacher? Yes. As 
much as it hurts you? It hurts the teacher now : it 
hurts you only now ? The teacher is paid for teach- 
ing and keeping good order — can you prez'oit her 
earning her money? Canyon help her? Canyon 
become a " partner " in this " concern ? " If you do, 
who has the "profits " — the teacher only ? Will you 
form an "opposition partnership " with laziness, mis- 
chief, dishonesty, some bad or mean school-mate? 
You can, a strong one too, will it "pay ? " 

(4) Criticism and Reproof.— Who should do the 
criticising in a school ? Why ? Do age and experi- 
ence help one to judge more correctly ? Who has 



12 THE ETHICS OF SCHOOL WFE. 

age and experience in your school ? If you " knew it 
all" would you need a teacher? How do you take 
reproof — in a manly, womanly way, and try not to 
deserve it again ? In an angry, childish way, that 
shows you 7nore in the wrong than perhaps the teacher 
thought you were ? Which is the better way for you 
and the teacher. 

(5) Your Friend. — A good friend is your teacher: 
she works with and for you, is ^/(2^ when you do well, 
sad when you do poorly, earnest for your present good, 
hopeful for your futm^e. Are you her friend? Do 
you trust her and show her your trust, gratitude, good 
will ? Do you realize that she can be tired, sick or 
mistaken and in need of your help — oisifrieiid's help ? 
Will you give what you can ? 

(6) For Older Classes. — Speak of such teachers as 
Dr. Arnold. "I, I^ouis Agassiz, Teacher." Read the 
tributes of Marcus Aurelius to his various teachers, 
specifying what he received from each. The teacher 
is a great power in the world. 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOL LIFE. 13 

IV. 

STUDY. 



" Well begun " may be " half done," 
But begiuuiug- is not ending ; 
Great successes ne'er are won 
By only wishing and intending. 
" Start " is good, but " stay " is better ; 
" Start," alone, ne'er won a race ; 
" Start and stick " is sure prize-getter : 
• Staying powers " take foremost place. 



Choose and adapt. 

(i) The Chief End of Study.— Why do you study ? 
First, that you may know. " Knowledge is power : " 
can you use this power if you do not have it ? Can 
you drive a nail if you have no hammer ? Second, to 
strengthen your mind. If you let your hand hang 
down at your side and never use it, what will happen ? 
What if you never use your mind ? If you let a field 
go without cultivation, and grow just as it pleases, 
what will it be like ? What if you do the same with 
your mind? Can the mind ever do nothing? Can 
you remember everythifig you ever learn ? Are the 
things you study, learn and in time forget of any use 
to you ? If you swing dumb bells, what do you do it 
for — that you may swing dumb bells all your life, or 
that your muscles may become stronger for other 
work ? Can study do the same for your mind ? Can 
anything else do it ? 

(2) Where to Study : In school ? Yes. At home ? 
Can you get all of your lessons well at school ? If so, 



14 THF KTHICS OF vSCHOOIy T^IFK. 

that is the place. If not, consult your teacher and your 
mother. Should you study while walking — from the 
book, I mean? Should you study from the book 
while riding ? Reasons for and against. Will it be 
all right to repeat a sentence or a rule, as you walk jc 
ride, to fix it in memory ? Should you lie in bed and 
study? The light should fall on your work, not on 
your eyes. Does it pay to be careful in these ways ? 

(3) How to Study. — "Put your mind on it" — 
what does "on it" mean? Can you put your mind 
where you please ? Can you read a thing over and 
over and not know a bit of what yo\x are reading ? Is 
that study ? Did yoit ever do it and catl it study ? ** I 
studied «^ it " — what does that mean ? 

Understanding — can you have it the first time you 
read over a lesson if you try hard ? Not always ? 
Is it a great help when you do ? What prevents, often, 
— the difficulty of the lesson, or the way you use your 
mind ? Be honest with yourself in answering this. 
If you do not understand at first, may j^ou give up ? 
How do you feel when you give up ? How when y*^"-! 
wov\iih.a.rd and eong^uer f Which is inind-strengthen- 
ing ? ' ' Over and over again' ' — does that belong tc 
study ? 

(4) ^ Difficulties. — Is it always eas}'- to study ? Some- 
times it is — must you wait only for sue/i times ? Can 
you study in a noise ? Out of doors ? In company ? 
Can yon put , your mind on your lesson ? It is hard? 
Yes ; but if there is no opportunity to study elsewhere 
just then, can you do it? If the sitting-room is the 
only room for you to sit in and study, should the rest 
of the family be obliged to refrain from talking ? You 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOI, lylFK. 15 

would rather do .something else than study ? What if 
you ^^ it ? A poor lesson ? An unsound brick in your 
building? Who knows when this failure may count 
against 3'ovi ? You alone ? 

(5) A Conscience in Study. — You have a mind — 
is it your duty to use it well ? There is good work to 
do in the world — will you do some of it ? Can you, if 
you are not fitted for it ? Can you grow to higher 
kind of work ? What does conscience have to do with 
study ? 

^6) For Older Classes. Is it ever the right thing 
to do to commit a lesson to memory that you do not 
understand ? Is it best to learn a rule or definition 
"word for word," or to give the idea correctly in 
your own words ? " Study to please ; " " Study to be 
quiet ; " "Study into it ; " "Study by the way ; "— 
What do these mean ? 



V. 

PLAY. 



Kay for fun, and play for good, 
And play with all your might ; 

If when, and where, and how you should. 
Your play will be all right. 



Choose and adapt. 

(i) Your Right. — Children sometimes say, " I have 
a right to play ! " So they have— why ? First, be- 



l6 THE ETHICS OF SCHOOIv lylFE. 

cause // is natural— ono. of the ways nature takes to 
make you grow, in body and mind. Can you use 
both ? Can idiots play ? Can a boy,, who cannot 
walk, play? A blind boy? A dumb boy? Is play 
all of one kind ? Girls' play ? Bo^-s' play ? Play in 
different countries ? Second, it is a rest. From what ? 
Why do you need to rest ? Could you work always 
without play ? Should you play always without 
work? .Third, it is sociable. Study must be done 
alone — that is, each one must study for himself. Play 
takes in others. It brings out the cheerful side of us : 
is it play if it brings out crossness or gloom ? Can you 
study with another who cannot speak your language ? 
Can you play with him ? 

(2) The Play- Ground a School. — What do you 
learn there? New games? How to play old ones 
better ? To see quickly ? To act qtdckly ? To de- 
pend on your best faculties ? To cultivate your poorer 
ones ? What oi counting games ? Only eaj'nest work 
pays — ^how about play ? Do lazy players win or have 
fun ? Do their companions like to have them play ? 
Only honest woi'k pays — what of play ? Is it "fun " to 
cheat ? Is it "fun " to be cheated ? How do you treat 
the property of others when you play? Is "fun" 
ever a reason for defacing or injuring property ? If 
you see, anywhere, markings with chalk, or pencil 
that are wrong or indecent will you not remove them, 
for the sake of others ? Bad habits spread : you can 
help prevent their spreading. Can you learn in play 
to be brave, kind and generous ? Are these lessons ? 
Can you "get them?" What do you think of the 
boy or girl who does not get them ? 

(3) The Golden Rule of Play. — "No fun unless 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOL LIFE. I? 

it is fun on both sides," {Horace Mann.) Are you 
having fun that teases or hurls another ? Put yourself 
in his place. Can that other be a dog, or any other 
animal ? iBsop's fable of the boy stomng the frogs 
Theodore Parker and the turtle. Watch anmials at 
play with each other and notice if you ever see any 
meanness. Should you expect the ott"^ //^'^yf .*° 
play what yo,^ like ? Do you ever play what you do 
L/like because some one else likes it? " y°" P^^^ 
what youdonotlike hard, will you likeit any better? 
What has good nature to do with play ? How do you 
treat the younger boys and girls on the play ground? 
Do you play, in all ways, as you wish others to play 
with you ? 

u\ For Older Classes.-' ' Play-a game, an amuse- 
ment, anything done for diversion," says the diction- 
ary Do children only play? If not, does play grow 
with our growth, "or only change? Have we gone for- 
ward to higher things when we play cards for money, 
go to dog fights, cock fights, bull fights, to a low or 
vulgar play ? Can you prevent these things from going 
on in the community ? " If I stay away others will 
go • I'm only one man ! " Each man is only one man 
andhe is apower for evil or good. A power for good 
—take that for the keynote of your ''play:' 



i8 THK e:thics of schooi* wfe;. 

VI. 
SCHOOL-MATES. 



" That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for 
the bee." — Marcus Aureltus. 

" The music that can deepest reach, 

And cure all ill, is cordial speech. — Emerson. 



Choose and adapt, 

(i) Companions Educate Us.— Schoolmates are a 
part of school — are they a pleasant part ? What do 
we get from them ? They talk — what do they talk 
about f How do we talk back ? They let us know a 
good many of their thoughts — are they the right sort 
of thoughts? What they say and think sets us to 
thinking — is it on the right lines ? Does it help us 
up or pull us down ? Could we tell it at home or 
would we rather not? Can we be with our school- 
mates and not be influenced by them ? How do they 
behave? Are their manners as good or better than 
ours, and should either be the standard ? Thinking, 
talking, manners, in these three ways our school- 
mates cannot help partly educating us. Is it good or 
bad education in your school ? 

(2) Your Standard. — K^z^ are educating some one 
else by yonr way of thinking, talking, behaving — 
how ? Shall you change your standard according to 
your /r<?5<?«^ associates ? Will you "go up" a little 
if the set is good? You ought to, but will you 
also "come down" a little if the set is not good? 
Will they like you better — really better ? What do 



THEJ ETHICS O^ SCHOOlv I.IPK. '9 

yoti gain if they do ? Can you brace yourself against 
IviHnfluence, and have good resolutions and be true 
to them while you ^r^young ? Ifyoudo not believe 
me you will not be apt nor so able to do so when you 
are older. Can you «« raise the standard" ..xyour 
school ■> Is it easy ? Can you stand coaxing, threat- 
ening, ridicule, and stand firm ? The one question to 
ask about anything is, is it right? Have you the 
courage to acton the right side ? There is a nght and 
wronS side in very small things. George Bhot says 
-"The reward of doing one good deed is the added 
power to do the next.'' 

(3) Your Part Towards Others.— («) Borrowing 
and lending : is it well to borrow books, paper, pencil, 
erasers or any school "tool" from your mates? If 
you are ^^r^>/, could you always have your tools 
in order? If by any accident, you are obliged to 
borrow, should you be careless about returning it be- 
cause, *'0h, it's such a little thing, he would be 
mean to be particular about my giving that back ! " 

Should you lend? There is a rule of kindness in 
such matters— a rule of justice, too— can you use 
both? If you always lend whenever anybody asks 
you, is it always kind or good for the one yon lend to 
or just towards those who supply your things? If 
you never lend, because everybody should have his 
things in order, as you do, will it not often be mean 
and show a feeling of self-righteousness ? 

[b) Helping ivith Z^55^w^—To what extent may yon 
and your school-mates " help " each other in lessons ? 
May one do the work and then show the other how ? 
Is it kind to let a mate copy your examples, transla- 



20 THE ETHICS OF SCHOOI, I^IFE. 

tion, parsing or definitions ? You had better ask your 
teacher just what you may do about giving or getting 
helj) and then do as she says and your very best^ no 
matter what " marks " jj/<?// get, nor how "mean" 
your companions may think you are. ^ 

(4) *' Getting Even." — There are bad boys and 
girls in every school — these are sure to do mean and 
tricky things to one who will not lower his standard, 
and do as they wish. Sometimes a good boy or girl 
gets "mad " at a friend and does something mean to 
"show him. " Shall we ' ' have our revenge ? " Shall 
we do an equally mean, harmful thing to "get even ?" 
Marcus Aurelius says, ' ' The best way oi avenging thy- 
self is not to become /z'^^the wrong doer." 

For Older Classes.— Character and not station, wealth 
or clothes should influence our choice of intimates 
amongst our school-mates. It is not always desirable 
to be friendly with the "leader " in a school. Why? 
Is the majority always in the right ? Can you afford 
to be very unpopular if you are in the right? Is it 
wise to be neutral when there is a decided right and 
wrong ? 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOIv I.IFE. 21 

VII. 
BRIGHTNESS AND DULLNESS. 



" Not how much talent have I, but how much will to use the 
talent I have, is the main question. Not how much do I know, 
but how much do I do with what I know ? " — W. C. Gannett. 



Choose and Adapt. 

Begin with parable of The Talents, Matt. XXV, 
14-30. 

(i) Your Talent. — That means your mental powei 
or ability. Where did you get it ? It took genera- 
tions of people and ages of time to get to you and 
your mind — is it worth taking care of? You aie 
bright perhaps — are you to take credit to yourself for 
that ? Perhaps you are dull — are you to blame your- 
self or others, and do nothing about it? What will 
you do with your brightness ? It can grow dull just 
as a piece of silver laid away and never used. It can 
be kept bright as the money can — how ? What will 
you do with your dullness, for it is yours to do some- 
thing with? If you cannot learn two pages, can 3'ou 
learn one? If you cannot learn a lesson in one hour, 
will you not take two ? Are you as dull this year as 
you were last in spite of hard, faithful work ? No ; 
you cannot be — let that be your comfort. Keep on 
woi^king. Do you know the story of the hare and the 
tortoise? If only the dull ones would keep steadily 
on ; if only the bright ones would not "let up," what 
would it do for the world ? 



22 THE ETHICS OF SCHOOIv IJFE. 

(2) How Brightness is Dulled. — Bright boys and 
girls do not always grow into useful men and women : 
why ? They are spoiled : 

{a) By Self-conceit : if you are thinking of the 
praise of friends, or how much smarter you are than 
others, will you be likely to think you must do your 
very best ? Will you not, rather, desire to " show off" 
on some particular occasion, and "just get along" at 
other times ? 

{b) By Shallowness : when it is easy to do ' ' pretty 
well," it is easy to think that "pretty well " will do. 
Will it? The mind groius only b}^ use — will you 
dwarf your mind by using it only partly or feebly ? 

if) By Idleness — If you can get your lessons in a little 
time, will you keep putting them off and spen.d the 
rest of the time in idleness ? If you have the time 
to use as you choose, can you add to the value of the 
lesson by learning some outside matter that relates 
to it? If some one else needs all your "spare " time 
should you idle it away on your lessons ? 

(3) How Dullness is Brightened. — Talent is often 
only great industry ; can you "cultivate " talent ? If 
time and hard work will accomplish a task, will you 
take time andg-ive hard work ? Will you do it every 
day ? Cheerfulness helps. Shall you say. I'll 
keep at this lesson, but I don't believe I'll ever get 
it ! " or " ' Never is a long day,' and it will not be my 
day for this lesson!" Tell the stor}^ of the Discon- 
tented Pendulum. Dull boys and girls often make 
bright men and women (Sir Walter Scott and Liebig 
were called " boobies " at school) but they have to work 
steadily for it. " Slozu but sure." 

(4) The World's Needs. — What sort of talent does 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOI. I.IFK. 23 

the world need ? Every sort. Quick minds for emer- 
gencies, steady minds for long strains, mmds trained 
to do only one thing well ; minds that can readily do 
2. good many things, leading min^s Jollozving mmds, 
commanding minds, minds that can promptly obey, 
those that can invent, others that can carry out the 
ideas of another. Any talent well cultivated has its 
use in the world. The world needs your talent what- 
ever iiis What is it? Are you making the very most 
of it? Parable of the Talents, Matt. XXV, 14-30- 

For Older Classes.— Zrt/^ opportunity. If you have 
not had early opportunities for education, can you do 
anything late in lire ? It will not be as easy-should 
that deter you from trying? Night schools-do they 
meet your needs ? Fublie libraries and reading-rooms, 
do you use them? Need you remain ignorant? If 
you are fitted for only humble, plain work, can you by 
pursuing persistently one line of study, fit you^sdfto 
do a higher kind, or the same kind more skillfully ? 
Are you ever "too old to learn?" Is there a closed 
door to new knowledge because you are no longer 
young? Michael Angelo at 80 turning to make an 
architect of himself 

Other illustrations. You are not too old at any 
time to "break new ground " and plant seed ifyK>u 
will The ability of mature years is often found to 
be greater than that of youth, when fully tested. 



24 THK ETHICS OF SCHOOIv LIFE. 

VIII. 
READING AND OUTSIDE HELPS. 



" Reading maketh a full man." — Bacon. 

"Keeping thy divine part pure as if thou sliouldst be bound 
to give it back immediately." — Marcus Aurelius. 



Choose and adapt. 

(i) What do You Read For? First, most of you 
read for ^'ficti^^ — is it good *'fun?" Then, all right. 
Is all your reading for fun ? Then, onl}^ half right. 
Second, to leant about something not in your school 
books. Is it something worth learning ? Is it true ? 
If you wish to learn about Africa, for instance, will 
it make any difference which book about Africa you 
read? Third, to help with your lessons. School 
books give only a little of each subject : if you wish to 
get more what must you do ? 

(2) Choice of Books. — Can you choose a book 
alone? If a hundred books are before you, how will 
you know which one to choose ? Does your mother, 
father or teacher know any better than you ? All the 
boys and.girls are reading a book and so you read it ? 
How did they know how to choose ? Do you care to 
ask your mother or teacher if that book is good for 
you to read ? Do you get books from a library ? Did 
you ever ask the librarian for any help in choosing ? 
She is one of the best of choosers, for that is part of 
her business. What is "chaff"? Grain? Is there 
much "chaff" in books? Do you w^ant it? Vou 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOI. WEE. 25 

cannot tell the "grain " by looking at the book cover 
— will you not wisely ask help in finding it ? 

(3) Food and Poison. — If your mind is to grow it 
needs food — all of one kind ? The body thrives best 
on bread, meat, vegetables, fruit and good milk — are 
there kinds of reading that correspond to these ? You 
may eat too little to keep up your strength and growth 
— can you read tco little for the viind's growth ? Can 
you eat too much of even the best kinds of food ? 
What does over-eating do ? Can you over-do read- 
ing ? If you read too much and too hastily, if you 
"cram" the results will be (i) that you will not 
remember things correctly (2) that you will forget /w<9^/ 
of what you read. (3) that you will " skim over " a 
book and never get at its real worth, at all (4) that 
you will spend in reading time that should be spent 
in exercise of work or play. A go'od rule : learn 
your lessons thorotighly, then read what is worth 
while, and as much as you can reasonably. Reasonably 
— what does that mean ? 

Can yon poison the m.ind ? Can you roll a snowball 
ih the mud and keep it white ? If once it becomes 
muddy can you make it white again ? There are 
poisonous and muddy books and papers ; most of them 
are cheap ; some of them are only a little poisonous 
or muddy. Your only safety lies in not choosing for 
yourself You never can wholly undo what you do 
for yourself in reading a book bad in the least degree- 
"Skim milk" reading — what is it? What does 
it do ? If you weaken the mind with books that are 
" not bad "but as certainly not "good," can the mind 
do proper work ? A weakened mind easily yields to 



26 THIf ETHICS OF SCHOOIy I^IFE. 

harmful things, and is made strong again with difficulty. 
*'Skim milk" reading is one of the worst kinds. 

(4) Great Books. — ^There are some great books 
that are a help, an incentive to good and that leave us 
unsatisfied to take anything but the best. The mind 
grows a great deal in reading even one such book 
slowly and well. Some of the greatest minds have had 
only a few books in childhood, but they read them 
well — can' you take a lesson from that ? 

(5) For Older Classes. — If you should read every 
hour of all your life, you could read only a small part 
of the books of the world — does how much you read 
make you a " full man ? " Since you can read so little 
what will the little be ? Reading in the line of your 
work must be done for success ; you will grow one- 
sided if that is all — can you be too careful about choice 
and division in reading? 

Teachers : — Prepare yourselves as thoroughly as you 
can to tell a child just what book to read if he comes 
and asks you. Question him closely first and then 
choose, deliberately, according to his needs. 
Read : Emerson's Essay 07i Books. 
Plutarch's Essay on Readijig. 
Horace Man7i's Life, by Mary Mann. 
Consult: One Hu7idred Choice Books. Lubbock. 
(American Edition.) 

Putnam's Handy Vol. Series—" Good Reading.'' 
Literary Landmarks — Mary E. Burt. 
Ten Great Novels— C H. Kerr (Publisher.) 



THE ETHICS OK SCHOOTv lylFE. 27 

IX. 
SCHOOL HONOR. 



" No longer talk about the kind of man a good man ought to 
be, but be such . " 

"If it is not right, do not do it ; if it is not true do not say it." 
Marcus Anrelins. 

"Honor and shame from no condition ri e ; 

Act well your part — there all the honor lies." — Pope. 



CJioose and adapt. 

(i) "On Honor." — Do yon know o ' any grander 
motto for school-life than that ? What doe ~> h nor 
mean? Triistwortliincss. Can it be part o^ every 
thing you do ? If you leave it out of any wor 1 or act, 
what is your word or act worth ? 

(2) School Honor. — Is it different from any other 
kind of honcr ? Home, school, the world — each brings 
its different set of actions, should the same honor run 
through each? Is school-life made up of big or little 
things ? Shall you wait for a big one in which to 
show how "'honorable" you can be^ — what a hero? 
If you have not learned how to be honorable in little 
things, will you have any honor to be a hero with ? 

(3) Commonplaces of Honor. — These school gives 
you. Let us look into them : [a] Can you be trusted 
v^ith. the propeiiy of others? Are the desk, the black 
board, books of reference and other school 
"properties yours? Have you the right to abuse 
them? Have you the rightful privilege to cut or 
write your name or anything else on fences, steps or 



28 THE ETHICS OF SCHOOL LIFE- 

out-buildings of the school ? Can you help keep these 
clean (in two senses )? Are persons who misuse pub- 
lic property anywhere honorable ? Can you be trusted 
to carry or '"come across" a note, a letter, a parcel 
or lunch basket without peeping into it ? Do you ever 
help 3'ourself, without asking, to your schoolmate's 
little things — his pencil eraser, a piece of paper, etc.? 
Do you ever borrow little things of him and forget or 
neglect to. return them ? 

ih) Can you be trusted to keep order without being 
watched ? The rules of the school — you know them 
all, big and little — do 3-0U keep them, "on honor,'' 
and when you have a chance to break them without 
being caught ? Do yo2C stand for the law and order of 
the school ? A rule-breaker is a law-breaker — is he 
any less mean when a boy in school than out in 
the city or country ? Laws are made to restrain the bad 
people : good, honorable people need no l-xzvs. If you 
*' break a law," with whom do you place yourself? 
If you oblige your teacher to luatch yon, do you not 
take a certain amount from her teaching force and 
compel her to put it into " police force ? " She has 
just so much force to give to you — may it all be of the 
best kind ? 

[c] ^' Honor in telling.''' Is it ever honorable to 
"tell " on another schoolmate who has done wrong? 
Constant tattling is mean ; but if some one does or is 
doing that wdiich harms another, or the school ; or if 
the teacher appeals to the school for aid in finding 
out who has done some very bad thing, is it honorable 
to tell, or to keep silent ? Which requires the most 
bravery ? Is there a difference between tattling and 
" evidence ? " What are courts of law for ! To fer- 



THE ETHICS OF SCHOOL LIFE. 29 

ret out and punish crime. Is one who gives evidence 
against a wrong doer, in a court, respected or despised ? 
If he remains silent what does the court do ? If 3'ou 
are silent about a school wrong, do you protect the 
wrong doer and thus help him ? Do you owe honor 
to the lazu-breaker or to the law ? Is it honor or is it 
cowardice that keeps you silent ? Which is mean, 
helping or righting wrong ? 

{d) Honor in lessons. — Is there more than one 
opinion about anything else than the strictest hon- 
esty in learning, writing, or reciting lessons ? 

We have talked of common-places, little things ; 
but is honor in little things ever itself a little thing ? 

(4) For Older Classes. — Can you have a hig-h 
motive for sometimes cheating in lessons ? such as 
to please your parents or teachers, to win a "scholar- 
ship "or " free tuition " which Father cannot afford 
to give you but which "will help him so much?" 
Shakespeare, in Hamlet, says, " Mine honor is my 
life \ both grow in one;" and George Kliot says : "It 
seems to me, a loss which falls upon another because 
-2ue have done right is not to lie upon our conscience." 
( Middlemarch . ) 

."Feelings come and go like light troops following 
the present ; hut principles, like troops of the line, are 
undisturbed and stand fast." Richter. 

We hear much of the wickedness of sin : it were 
well if we heard more of its meanness. 



30 THE ETHICS OF SCHOOL I^IFE. 

X. 

Prizes and Rewards. 



" Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling." 
" The aim of life — To seek the supreme wisdom by the reason 

and to practice the sovereign good by the will." — Giordam 

By lino. 



Choose and adapt. 

(i) A Prize : — that which is offered, or won as the 
reward of some exertion or contest." 

Does your teacher give prizes ? Did you ever win 
one ? If fifty are contending for a prize, how many 
can win it ? Do all of the rest get notliing? 

(i) ''A Reward : — that which is given in return for 
good or evil done or received ; a recompense, a 
eqtiital, a return." You have done well or ill in your 
school-work — let us see about your rev/ard. 

Reward comes from two words . re, which 
means back ; and warder, which means guard 
or keep ; so whatever you do, something conies 
back to keep. "A recompense : " there you have it 
again — re, back, and conipense, from a word that 
means to weigh one thing against another. The 
worth of your lesson-work was weighed in the mind- 
balance and you get its worth back again. " A 
requital:" — the re, for back, and quit — you and 
your work "are quits," one gives and gets no more 
than the other. " Return : " there is your re, back, 
and turn which means turn — your school-work will 
turn back upon you as you sent it out from you. You 



THE KTHICS OF SCHOOL LIFE. 3^ 

may not win the " prize," but will you get a reward ? 

(3) Best Rewards.— What are the great rewards 
of study ? More knowledge ? More power to acquire 
knowledge? Which is the better of these? Will 
yo>i always have these if you study 7uell ? Can you 
fail to have them for good work ? Honor, promotion, 
praise— will you have them, too ? If you do, will you 
be glad ? If you do not, have you still something 
worth the work you did ? Can you acquire a habit of 
working well ? Auerbach, in On the Heights, says. 
" Our second mother, habit . is also a good mother." 
We can make her a good mother, can we not ? In 
school, she should "mother" punctuality, prompt- 
ness, obedience, politeness and faithfulness in all 
all ways. 

(4) Motives.— Does the motive make any differ- 
ence in your work ? If your motive is high— for self- 
improvement, to please your parents, to get the good 
out of .school— can you fail to enjoy your work and 
make it good ? If your motive is lower — for a prize, 
to get to be " head " of the class, to get high marks- 
will the work be worth as much to you really ? If you 
fail to get these, do yor not feel as if you had lost all 
you were striving for ? Then make your all larger, so 
that if you do not " get the prize," are not " Number 
One," do not stand " 100," you will still feel that you 
have most of it left. 

(5) For Older Classes.— Prizes are offered for many 
things in these days— should the mere offer of a prize 
lead you to try for it ? For instance, a paper offers a 
prize for the best Christmas story or essay on Patrio- 
tism— 2iX^ there any questions to consider before you 
try for it ? Can you spare the time from your school 



32 THE ETHICS OF SCHOOE I.IFE. 

work ? your home work ? 30ur recreation hours ? If 
you can, and send out your stor}^ or essay, w^ll the 
anxiety of waiting for the result interfere with your 
school work ? Prizes for subscribers for magazines, 
for base ball games, should you try for them with, 
out weighing the matter well ? What does ' ' pressing 
forward to the mark of a high calling, ' ' mean ? 



XI. 

SELF-EDUCATION. 



" He is best educated who sees most differences. "' 

"A sound mind cannot exist where the morals are unsound. 

Sinister designs render the view cf things oblique." — Gouver- 

tieur Morris. 

Row with the oars that you have." — Dutch Proverb 



Choose and adapt. 

(i) Differences. — When 3^ou were a little child did 
the stars all look alike ? the blades of grass ? the 
leaves of a tree ? Do they now ? What has made the 
difference ? A savage or an uneducated person likes 
the music of a hand organ or a street band better than 
that of a fine orchestra — does one who is educated in 
music ? A poor picture and a good picture — how can 
we learn to know the latter ? Good manners and bad 



The ethics of school, life. 33 

manners — can we know the difiference without educa- 
tion in manners ? In order to see very slight differ- 
ences in things we have to observe closely, to have a 
trained eye and ear, and to study and learn about 
these things. 

(2) Keep Yourself Ready to Learn. — The mind 
grows best when everj^thing, — body^ brain and heart — 
are healthful. How will you keep the body healthy ? 
By work, play, good food, plenty of sleep, loose 
clothing, bathing and using the different parts of it 
aright. Over-work, under-work, poor work — do they 
harm the body ? Must you think to find out the best 
way of taking care of it ? 

{a) Train the hand. — How do teachers begin to 
teach an idiot ? As his hand becomes trained, his 
mind grows — is this true of your mind ? If you train 
the hand to use tools, the pencil, pen, and needle, is 
any thing beside the hand trained ? The more things 
you can do readily, well, quickly, delicatel^^ the bet- 
ter trained are your faculties — your " getting along " 
faculties. 

{IS) Train the eye — to see. "Having eyes you see 
not" — what does that mean? Do you notice the 
common things about you ? Can you tell of the 
growing things ? of birds ? of clouds ? of houses and 
people ? Take one good look into a store window as 
you pass quickl}- — how many of the objects in it can 
you name or describe ? Do this once a da}^ and see if 
you improve in a week's time. Can you measure 
lengths, heights, distances, by the eye ? Can you see 
very small things ? 

(j) School only a beginning. — Teacher and books 
can only start you in 3'our education. They help you 



34 THE ETHICS OF SCHOOI, I.IFE. 

to help yourself. How much of time out of a school 
day can the teacher give you ? What of the rest of the 
time ? Can a school book tell you all you wish to 
know of a subject, or only point the way to larger 
knowledge ? Perhaps you have an opportunity to 
travel^ — geography awdi history have helped make you 
ready for it. You visit the country, or some mount- 
ainous region, or great river basin, — botany, geology, 
and chemistry have helped make you able to enjoy it. 
A good school education is a good fonndation — can 
you build higher yourself ? 

{4) Use of Books. — Books should be used to set us 
thinking, to answer our "whys, " to lead us to ask 
other "whys" about new things, and to teach us 
about better things than we have known. Should we 
always believe a thing "because the book says so ? " 
If a statement appears unreasonable to us, should we 
believe it Ynt\\o\\t test iiig and 'investigating it further? 
Let one book be a stepping-stone to others. 

(5) A Conscience in Self-education. — We have in 
us the beginnings of knowledge and goodness, and we 
all have some means of growth — if we do not use them, 
are we wicked ? If we " lose our opportunities " can 
we ever regain those same opportunities ? or, ever do 
as zuell with like ones ? Is self-education a duty to 
ourselves, only ? Can we " grow in heart " as well as 
in mind ? Good actions bring heart-growth. If we 
can not all have opportunities to grow wise, can we 
all grow good — make ourselves good ? 

"Perseverance is the best school for every manly 
virtue." 



THK ETHICS OF SCHOOIv WFE. 35 

XII. 
VACATION. 



" Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." 

"She had a passion for turning a think into a thing." 
George MacDoiiald. 



Choose a?ul adapt. 

(i) Preparation. — First, have you earjied a "good" 
vacation by good work ? Then think over carefully 
what you wish to do ; then, again, think over what of 
all this you Diay do ; then, remember, honestl}-, what 
you ought to do. Out of the three lists you ought to 
make up a pretty "good " vacation. Nine weeks — it 
is a long time — will it take care of itself? Will each 
day take care of itself? Yes , in one sense ; but can 
yoic take good care of each day, getting out of it the 
" good " that is in it ? Plan, then, as carefulh' as you 
can, changing and re-shaping cheerfully as circum- 
stances compel you, but do not be aimless, and do 
not let what should have been your ' ' fore-thought, ' ' 
become your "hind-thought." 

(2) Going Away — Have you an opportunity to go 
from home for 3'our vacation ? Good ; for travel and 
change of scene educate us. 

{a) Do yoio go into the country ? Go with eyes and 
ars open. Study the trees, flowers, insects, stones 
and country products, by observation, by asking 
intelligent questions, and by books with which you 
provided yourself before leaving home. Learn to 



36 THE KTHICS OF SCHOOTv lylFE). 

knozu the common things. It is a far better way of 
reeling than lolling in a hammock or under a tree all 
of the time. Share the country pleasures — do things. 
Because you came from the city do you know more 
than the country boys and girls ? Of city things, yes. 
Of country things, a knowledge of which is just as 
valuable, they are far wiser than you. Learn of 
them, and in your turn teach, modestly, what they 
wish to know. 

{J}) Do yon go into the city ? Then take every 
opportunity to visit its places of historical interest, its 
art galleries, its manufactories, its public buildings. 
Ride to the end of every street car line that you may. 
What are shop windows for ? Is it " countrified ' ' to 
look into them ? Indeed it is not. A careful study of 
shop windows teaches much. How should you 
behave in a city ? No one knows you, shall you then 
' ' do as you please, ' ' disregard rules or be disorderly ? 
Is that your idea of " having a good time?" 

(3) Staying at Home. — If your home is in the city 
can you treat it as a strange city ? Have you visited all 
its public buildings, manufactories, art galleries, parks 
and whar\'es ? Now is a good time to do so. 

If your home is in the country have you ever made 
a collection of the leaves in your neighborhood ? of 
stones or flowers, and learned all you can of them ? 
Have you ever tried preparing grasses, flowers, 
grains, cones and such abundant things for gifts to 
city friends? They are very welcome. Have you 
ever collected insects, beetles, larvae of all kinds, put 
them into boxes with air-holes, and the kind of food 
you have found them eating, and watched their 
development ? It is very fascinating. 



THE ETHICS OF vSCHOOI, LIFE. 37 

(4) Vacation Rights of Others.— You are having a 
vacation, bnt every one else is not. Can you give 
help or pleasure to others? Can you keep from 
making them more work? Can you rest them by 
bringing in cheerful accounts of what you have seen 
or done ? If you are anywhere in an unselfish, kind 
way, you will be there in the Tight way and need 
almost no other rule of guidance. 

" Politeness is to do and say 

The kindest thing in the kindest way." 

(5) Vacation Duties. — To give and ^<?/ as much. 
help, as much //^-rtc/^r^ and as mwoXx profit as yon can 

Take care of each day, have a high aim, " row with 
the oars you have," 7ise what is given you to use, and 
you will have a " good vacation." 



iLSf!?^ °'' CONGRESS 



021 366 927 8 < 



